The action takes place in northern Ontario, in the largely Cree communities of Moosonee and Moose Factory.

Magnify a Google map enough and a speck of a place called North Woodslee comes into view about 30 kilometres southeast of Windsor.

“It’s very stark and sparse and flat,” says Jeff Lemire, who as a boy called it home. “When you’re growing up there you can’t wait to leave and you think it’s the most boring place in the world.”

Relief came once a month, when new issues of Superman, Batman and Spider-Man landed at the corner store.

“From a young age I was pretty much obsessed with comics,” says Lemire, 37. “Living in a small town and reading these larger than life stories and sort of escaping into them was obviously part of the appeal.

“I’d sit for hours copying the pictures, and I never really stopped.”

After writing and illustrating two acclaimed graphic novels — Essex County and Sweet Tooth — Lemire quickly became one of DC Comics’s most prized writers. He relaunched Superboy in 2010 and continues to spin the adventures of Animal Man and Green Arrow.

He’s now bringing the superhero gang, Justice League of America, to Canada. Justice League of Canada launches in May, much to the chagrin of some American readers, who can’t understand why their fearless defenders must head north for an extended stay.

It’s a geeky controversy likely to bring more eyeballs to the series. They’ll see their heroes put in a good day’s work against alien invaders, in an environment Lemire hopes will deepen their understanding of Canadian culture and identity.

The action takes place in northern Ontario, in the largely Cree communities of Moosonee and Moose Factory, just south of James Bay. Isolation, a theme that runs through Lemire’s work, is a fact of life in these towns, which are not accessible by road.

Lemire won’t reveal the complete makeup of the superhero team just yet. Animal Man and Green Arrow will be there, and the big three — Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman — won’t. The iconic characters that do appear will be helped by a new Canadian superhero Lemire has created.

She’s a 16-year-old Cree girl attending a Moosonee high school. It’s too early to divulge her powers, name or costume, but a recent trip Lemire made to the area gave him the idea for her qualities.

He discovered what First Nations call the “Teachings of the Seven Grandfathers,” based on the words wisdom, love, respect, bravery, honesty, humility and truth.

“I thought, Oh my God — that’s the archetype for a great superhero,” he says, sitting in his cosy Toronto studio in Leslieville.

“If I’m going to do something in Canada, addressing our First Nations is important because it’s a side of our Canadian identity that’s often overlooked,” adds Lemire, who has a 5-year-old son. “I also felt that First Nations youth could use a positive role model — they have so many hardships.”

Lemire visited schools in Moosonee and Moose Factory. He helped students draw and got their thoughts on the kind of superpowers his Cree hero should have. They’ll be based, he says, on the myths of First Nations along the James Bay coast.

DC Comics also plans a contest in which Moosonee and Moose Factory students draw their favourite superhero and write the traits and powers they should have. The work will appear at the back of the Justice League of Canada comic books and on DC’s blog.

“When I was growing up, I didn’t know anyone involved in the arts,” says Lemire, who heads to James Bay for more research in February. “It didn’t seem like a realistic goal. Everyone was either a farmer or a factory worker.

“It’s important, especially in isolated communities, for people to come in and show kids that, yes, you can tell stories for a living; you can be creative for a living.”

Lemire works at a frantic pace, juggling several projects. For DC alone he’s writing three comic books a month, a total of 60 pages. So far, he’s produced six Justice League of Canada issues..

“If I create a cool character,” he says of his Cree hero, “50 years from now there could be other writers still writing this character. That would be neat — they’ll live on past me.”

And if one day that character lives through a writer from a First Nation, “That would be the biggest win of all.”

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